The Panama Canal Authority has announced that it has concluded in his favor the last international arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to which he was conferred the task of resolving the dispute between the Authority centromericana and the consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) to which In 2009 the works to expand the Panamanian canal were entrusted ( of 9 July 2009 and 18 March 2015). The consortium, formed by the Spanish Sacyr Vallehrmoso, from the Italian Salini Impregilo, from the Belgian Jan de Nul and from the Panamanian Constructora Urbana, had repeatedly requested the recognition of additional costs incurred, equal to more than 1.6 billion dollars, in order to complete the works ( of 2 January and 20 February 2014 and 2 January 2015).

Recalling that GUPC had finally requested the recognition of costs of approximately 671 million baloa ($671 million), the Canal Authority specified that the court Arbitrale dismissed all claims relating to the construction of the new canal locks and the claims of the shareholders related to return on investment, while with regard to the four complaints related to the increase in cost of labour the court issued a statement with reservations with respect to one of the complaints indicating that the consortium could be entitled to the recognition of an amount up to 34 million of balboa subject to pending arbitration admitting their claims for an extension of the time limit. The Authority del Canale stated, finally, that the applicants must pay the Panamanian Authority 20.6 million balboa for legal fees and fees.

For its part, the Italian Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo) has highlighted that the consortium will receive an additional 34.9 million of dollars from the Panama Canal Authority, with the Unanimous recognition of the court of the right to receive the sum "for claims relating to the cost of labour, over to the amount previously awarded by the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB). The ICC Tribunal - Webuild specified - has not instead GUPC's application for the implementation of the Panama Canal gates and accepted other questions relating to instead to the longer construction times deferring the determination of the relative awards to another arbitral tribunal already in progress'.

Webuild recalled that "GUPC delivered the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2016, she took care of her maintenance for three years and all warranties are today free. Since its commissioning - it also recalled the Italian company - the Panama Canal Authority has Exceeded three billion dollars in annual toll revenue, thanks to the perfect functioning of the work - which represents an example of unique performance & efficiency». Webuild has specified that it had "initiated further arbitration at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in respect of the Republic of Panama, to the pending state, to protection of its investment in the country'.